


Infinity

by Author_of_Kheios



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Extra Lives, M/M, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:54:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25516090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Author_of_Kheios/pseuds/Author_of_Kheios
Summary: Jesse had 22 lives when he turned ten. By the time he turned 18, he was down to seven. He lost two more before Gabriel found and recruited him into Blackwatch. During his service with them, he lost two more. When he turned 32, he stopped aging, and promptly lost another life the very next year.The day he met Hanzo, he was down to his very last life.
Relationships: Genji Shimada & Hanzo Shimada, Genji Shimada/Tekhartha Zenyatta, Jesse McCree & Genji Shimada, Jesse McCree/Hanzo Shimada
Comments: 16
Kudos: 186





	Infinity

**Author's Note:**

> sooo  
> concept. what if our lovely cast of heroes had more than one life?
> 
> this was an idea i came up with based on the movie The Old Guard on netflix. i really loved the movie and i wanted to mess around with the idea of immortality, but without just making everyone immortal, so... i went with extra lives instead.
> 
> enjoy my weird, four-day brainchild, and don't forget to kudos, comment and subscribe for more wacky overwatch aus~

Rules of Extra Lives

  1. Until you turn 10, you have only one life.
  2. At 10, two numbers appear on your wrist, visible only to you; the first is how old you will be when you stop aging, and the second is how many lives you now have.
  3. Whenever you lose a life, you remain in a State of Slumber (SoS) for twenty-four hours, after which you awaken refreshed and healed.
  4. When you reach your last life, you continue to age as normal, and are susceptible as anyone to disease and death.
  5. It is entirely possible to die permanently before reaching your last life. If your body is dismembered and the pieces scattered, or if it is completely destroyed (e.g. by fire), then all lives are lost immediately.
  6. In the incredibly rare instance wherein you have a soulmate, neither of you can kill the other, and you share lives. If one soulmate is permanently killed, the other is instantly reduced to their final life.



•×•

"How many lives does he have, I wonder?" Jesse muses, basking in the warmth of the first sunny day they've had all spring.

"Who?" Genji asks, stirring from his doze not far away; the grass is soft and lush after the recent rains, and highly conducive to catnaps.

"Yer brother."

"Plenty," Genji scoffs, shifting and stretching his arms over his head with a vocal yawn. "He has always had more than me, and he's more careful with them than one would expect."

"Wasn' he a mob boss, though?"

"Yakuza," the ninja corrects lazily.

"Same diff; lotsa people huntin' him's the important bit. Gotta chew through lives like a dog's favourite chew toy."

"He has more than enough to compensate; trust me," Genji chuckles. "He was blessed with far more than the average person."

"Isn't the average somethin' like ten?"

"More like five, if you mean the entire world. The average at Overwatch is around 17, though." Genji cracks open an eye to smirk sidelong at him, scars twisting and stretching to accommodate. "Assuming of course that no one lied to me about how many lives they have."

"No reason to lie 'bout bein' on my last life," Jesse snorts, rolling his eyes. "Prob'ly brought yer average down a bit, didn't I?"

"Between you, Soldier, and Shrike, yes. But you three are outliers, just as my master is."

"Ain't fair that an omnic who don't fight got a hunerd lives and ain't lost a single one yet."

"Well..." Genji blushes, a strange, mottled pink that spreads in patches across his features.

"Damn, Zen lost a life?" Jesse asks, brows shooting up as he turns to face his best friend. "Wait, lemme guess; he took a hit for ya on a mission."

"I took the hit," Genji mumbles, embarrassed, sitting up and crossing his legs. "It killed me."

Jesse stares at him, stunned. He opens his mouth, but he already knows the answer before he even asks.

"But... you were on yer last life."

"I was.  _ I _ didn't lose a life when I died." The confirmation is staggering, and if they'd been standing, Jesse would have fallen over.

"Y'all are soulmates."

"And now we share Zenyatta's lives," Genji nods, sheepish but oddly proud. Jesse can't blame him; the monk changed Genji, turned him into the amazing person he is today, helped him let go of his past and move forward, and Genji's adoration of him turned to love a long time ago. This is nothing more than a promise from the universe that they'll never be separated.

"Congrats, Genji," he says, sincere in his joy for the ninja. "Y'all deserve it."

"How does every conversation with you end up focused on me?" Genji demands, just flustered enough to grasp for a change in topic.

"I'm a curious guy," Jesse chuckles, winking. "Always stickin' my big ole nose in e'rybody's business."

"Be careful you don't stick it in Hanzo's," Genji scoffs. "You will lose it before you can say 'oops.'"

"I dunno," Jesse hums, mostly teasing but also partly serious. "Gotta make sure the guy who killed my best friend and stole one of yer precious few lives ain't up for a repeat."

"Trust me, if Hanzo wanted me properly dead, he would have made sure to finish the job years ago. Now, if he so much as looks at me wrong, Zenyatta has sworn to match him life for life if needed."

"And on that pleasant note," Jesse laughs, standing and dusting off his pants, "I gotta get myself a shower before Brig and Mei drag me out shopping. Somethin' 'bout not havin' any formalwear or some craziness like that. Don't worry; I'll be back before Hanzo arrives."

"Like I would worry about you," Genji humphs, rolling his eyes in amusement.

"Just like the good ole days then," Jesse winks, and leaves Genji cackling on the ground when he heads off for a shower.

•×•

Brigitte is coercing Jesse into trying on another fancy suit when Mei gets the ping.

"Guys," she speaks up in a tone that immediately ends the playful argument. "Winston needs us back at the base, now. All hands on deck for a mission."

"There was nothing scheduled," Brigitte frowns, already hurrying to gather up the things they were trying on to at least bring them to the attendant. "Did something happen?"

"Null Sector," Mei answers succinctly. Jesse forgets sometimes that she's technically older than him, but at moments like this, as she organises them and herds them back to the Watchpoint, he sees it all over again.

The base is mostly deserted by the time they return, but still in a flurry of activity. They split up to grab their gear, but all three arrive at the briefing room almost at the same time.

"Winston!" Mei calls, leading them in. He glances up from the data pad someone is showing him and waves them over.

"Good, good," he nods to the young tech. "Okay, coordinate with Reinhardt and make sure Sojourn and Shrike get the information as well. We need everyone in the loop. Mei, glad you're here. Almost everyone else has been deployed in teams of six; D.Va and Alex are waiting for you three in the hanger."

"Who's our sixth?" Jesse asks, triple-checking his Peacekeeper out of habit more than necessity.

"...Hanzo." All three of them go still and Winston quickly barrels on. "He arrived early and I've already spoken with him and Genji. He's been vetted, and we need to see what he's capable of anyway. I know you all can handle yourselves, and the other teams are already gone. Everyone will be coordinating and working together in any case, I just divided everyone into teams so none of the leaders gets overwhelmed. Athena and I will be heading the operation from here."

"We'll do our best," Mei promises, none of the softness she's so well known for left in her features.

"Shouldn't we have another healer on our team?" Brigitte asks.

"Every team has been assigned one medic," Winston explains. "The rest are working together under Zenyatta's guidance and will be moving from team to team as needed."

That satisfies her, and she and Mei turn to leave. When Jesse makes to follow, Winston catches his arm.

"Jesse. I need you to do me a favour and stick close to Hanzo."

"Why me?" he frowns, not liking this.

"Mei is still learning how to be a leader, and Brigitte and Hana are too young; so is Alex, and while she can probably handle herself better in a brawl, you have more experience than any of them. And you know what Overwatch needs. Keep an eye on Hanzo and let me know afterwards whether or not he's suited for us."

There's more to that than Winston is saying ― most likely having to do with Genji ― but Jesse knows better than to pry, so he just nods. "You got it, boss."

In the hangar, Hana is practically bouncing off the walls in her eagerness to get going, and Alex is doing her breathing exercises to stay calm and keep her jacked up body under control. Mei strides in and puts her hands on her hips, looking around.

"Alright everyone," she says, getting their attention. "Let's get moving; everyone is counting on us!"

"Finally!" Hana huffs, dipping behind Toki and clambering in. Alex takes one more deep breath and stands, ready to go. Brigitte swings her flail once to test that it's working properly and then rests it on her shoulder as she follows the others to the last ORCA in the bay.

Hanzo is already waiting inside the ship.

Jesse's suddenly reminded that it's been months since he last had any between-the-sheets fun with anyone when he sees the sculpted deity of perfection seated with deadly patience in the back of the ORCA, looking like he belongs. Jesse's gaze jumps from beautifully sharp features down to the man's wrist, as though he'd be able to see how many lives Hanzo has if it wasn't covered by a smooth, worn leather bracer.

Determined to prove herself, Mei takes charge as the ORCA lifts off. She goes over to Hanzo, keeping a hand on the wall to make sure she doesn't fall over during the bumpy takeoff.

"Hello! My name is Mei-Ling Zhou."

"Would you prefer Captain or Doctor?" Hanzo asks smoothly, offering a hand to shake while Jesse struggles not to melt at the deliciousness of the man's voice.

"Oh, ah... Either is fine," Mei blushes, shaking his hand; clearly he knows the basics about everyone. To hide her fluster, she immediately turns to introduce the others. "That's Hana Song and her mech, Toki. That's Brigitte Lindholm, Torbjorn's youngest daughter and one of our best combat medics. That's Alex, our newest recruit after you. And that's Jesse McCree. He was a core member of Overwatch and Blackwatch back in the day."

"Pleasure," Jesse nods, grateful that his voice is even and gives nothing away as he reaches out. Hanzo's hand is warm and smoother than expected, and it slots perfectly into Jesse's.

"It is my honour," Hanzo says smoothly, bowing over their hands with his gaze downcast, "to meet a member of the original organisation... and my brother's best friend. Thank you for taking care of him all these years. Please take care of me as well."

Well fuck. And Jesse thought he was past all the young-love-crush years.

"Only if you take care of me too."

Oh shit, that was out loud. And hella seductive.

Jesse flushes scarlet and clears his throat, turning away as soon as he registers everyone's eyes on him. He pretends to busy himself with his Peacekeeper, even though he maintains it religiously and knows it's pristine and ready for blood; the practiced motions help slow his racing thoughts and heart, giving him something to focus on besides the man he wants irrationally to kiss breathless.

"So what's the plan, Captain?" he asks to move the conversation before it gets rooted in his embarrassment.

"Yeah, what are we doing?" Hana asks from on top of Toki, where she's got a panel open and is working on something inside.

"No matter what the plan, you're going to go in guns blazing, aren't you, Hana?" Alex teases, grinning at her.

"I resemble that statement," Hana grins back.

"I'm not sure yet," Mei admits, easing down into a seat not far from Alex. "Winston will send me the information about positioning and statuses when we get closer, and then I'll put together a rough plan for us going in, but mostly, we're just backup. Reinhardt, Sojourn and Shrike are taking care of things."

"Cavalry's a-comin', huh?" Jesse chuckles, twirling his Peacekeeper absently into its holster at his hip.

"They can handle it," Brigitte says confidently, sitting back in her chair. "We probably won't even get to fight."

•×•

They definitely get to fight.

The moment they arrive, Mei directs them into position as Shrike's team beats a hasty retreat toward them. Hanzo quietly states that his talents would be put to best use at long range and requests permission to find himself a sniper's perch. Mei hesitates, but only for a moment before allowing him to go.

"I'll go with ya," Jesse says as Hanzo turns to leave, remembering Winston's orders. "In case someone sneaks up on ya. Never hurts to have someone on yer six."

"Keep each other safe," Mei nods, dismissing them with a hasty wave of her hand as she preps her equipment for battle. "Stay on comms; we can't afford to lose contact right now."

"You got it, boss," Jesse grins, tipping his hat as he hurries after Hanzo.

When Hanzo finds a position that satisfies him, with a wide range of view and long sightlines and still some cover in the event of return fire, he wordlessly takes the weapon case from his back and lays it reverently on the ground. To Jesse's surprise, it doesn't contain a rifle. Instead, Hanzo pulls out the pieces of a finely crafted bow and slots them together in a matter of seconds. A quiver of arrows follows, settling against Hanzo's hip instead of going on his back, and then the man is standing at the ready by the half wall around the edge of the roof.

"Bow and arrow?" Jesse finds himself asking.

"Reliable and silent," Hanzo answers succinctly, watching the chaos of the battle grow closer.

"That so?" Jesse can't help the little laugh that escapes him. How is this man so perfectly adorable when Jesse knows full well what he's capable of?

"A bow will never jam," Hanzo states plainly, sounding neither annoyed nor insulted.

"My Peacekeeper ain't jammed since I first learned how to hold it."

"And just how loud is your Peacekeeper?" Hanzo asks, cocking a sidelong glance at him.

Oh shit... Is he flirting?

"Loud enough to make a point."

"And to draw the attentions of every enemy in miles," Hanzo scoffs mildly. "I would take my bow over your gun any day."

"You and Genji 're two of a kind," Jesse chuckles. "Swords and bows; whatever don't make noise. Pretty pointless in the heat o' battle, you ask me."

"Have you actually seen what my brother is capable of?" There's an odd note in Hanzo's voice, and Jesse can't quite interpret it.

"A bit. He's usually done 'fore I get to 'im," Jesse admits.

"There are few who can best Genji with a blade."

This time, Jesse catches the self-loathing, the longing, the pride undercut by sorrow. Hanzo truly loves his brother, and it killed him to kill Genji. Jesse genuinely hopes that he no longer feels bound by whatever bullshit clan rules made him kill his own family.

Before he can even open his mouth to ask why Hanzo joined Overwatch, the archer suddenly notches an arrow, draws it back, and lets it fly, all in a split second. When Jesse tracks the arrow's path, he sees it pinning the head of a Null Sector omnic to the wall behind Brigitte, who hasn't even noticed it.

"Oi, Brig!" he snaps into his comm. "Watch your six!" She whirls, sees the omnic, and waves.

"Thank you, Hanzo!"

Hanzo doesn't reply, but Jesse catches a hint of relief in his expression; the man may be hard to read for most people, but Jesse ain't most people, and there hasn't been a single human he's come across that he can't get a read on after some time with them.

"Who's on overwatch?" a familiar voice asks over the comm. Shrike.

"Shimada Hanzo," the archer says, nocking another arrow and taking aim. "Five o'clock from Captain Zhou's current position."

"McCree with 'im," Jesse adds. "We got yer flank, Shrike."

"Excellent. Zhou, send D.Va to your 9. We're coming in hot and they're trying to pinch us off from you."

"Good to see you, brother," Genji speaks up. "Jesse bothering you yet?"

"Not yet," Hanzo hums, casting an amused glance at him. "Surprisingly enjoyable company thus far, despite his garish choice of clothing."

"Rude."

"That is the highest praise you can hope for, Jesse," Genji laughs. "Rein, two got past me; they are headed your way."

"Understood," the former crusader acknowledges. "Sojourn, how are things on your end?"

"Almost in position, big guy," she responds. "We'll be ready to bring the fire on your signal."

"Shit! Zenyatta, we need immediate assistance at my location," Shrike bites out, cutting off whatever Reinhardt was about to say. "Augustin took a bad hit to the sternum; I'm doing my best to stabilise him but we can't move."

Jesse moves to a different part of the roof, trying to see where they are, and Hanzo follows, stepping up on top of the wall for whatever extra height he can get.

"We are en route," Zenyatta promises. "Dr. Zhou, I will require your assistance in clearing a path."

"Already working on it," Mei answers.

"There," Hanzo says, drawing an arrow. Jesse tracks his line of sight, but only really gets it once the arrow flies, and he watches it spear through the chest of an enemy omnic mere feet from where Shrike is standing protectively over Baptiste.

"Damn," Jesse whistles. "Got better range than I do."

"A side effect of countless hours training rigorously to reach unattainable expectations."

"I don't envy you," Jesse humphs, earning a mildly surprised glance from the archer. "We got the high ground covered, Zen; yer clear to move in."

"We're in place, Rein," Sojourn reports. "As soon as you give the signal, we'll wipe them out."

"Hold steady!" Reinhardt replies. "Shrike, you're in the middle of the hot zone; get moving, quickly!"

"We don't have time for that," Sojourn warns. "They're catching on!"

"Zenyatta, stay back," Shrike barks suddenly. "Save your lives; I'm sending the rest of my team to you. Jesse, Hanzo; guard their retreat. Reinhardt, give the signal."

"How many lives do you have left?"

"Enough," she answers vaguely. "Augustin still has eighteen; be ready to move in for SoS retrieval as soon as it's clear."

"Ah, shiet..." Jesse curses, looking down at the street and debating the chances of surviving a twenty-foot drop. "She's on her last life. Zen, she's on her last life; don't let her stick around!"

"Wait," Hanzo says, grabbing Jesse's shoulder when he turns to go for the stairs. "Look." He points, and Jesse squints toward Shrike and Baptiste.

It takes him a minute to realise what he's seeing play out... Baptiste stole one of Shrike's sleep darts and jabbed her with it. There's only a momentary scuffle before she succumbs to it, and Baptiste catches her when she falls.

"Zen, come get her, quickly," he grunts through the comms. "I can't move; get her out of here and come back for me after you've taken care of these bastards."

"I am on my way to help," Genji speaks up.

"Hurry it up," Sojourn says shortly. "We've got maybe two minutes before they peg us; if we miss this opportunity, Augustin won't be the only one in SoS."

Jesse holds his breath while Zenyatta and Genji coordinate to get Shrike's unconscious body out of harm's way, hardly noticing each arrow Hanzo sends flying with deadly accuracy but for the sound of the snapping bowstring beside him.

"You're clear!" Baptiste announces, and then all hell breaks loose.

The city lights up with gunfire as Sojourn's team swoops in, and the comms crackle with callouts and banter as the tide turns back in their favour. Hanzo empties his quiver into the battlefield and then promptly leaps with near inhuman strength and grace to the next roof, clambering down the fire escape almost before Jesse even realises he left. Cursing, he snatches the archer's bow case and scrambles for the stairs.

"Hanzo, where the hell'd you go?" he demands as he hits the street and takes off in the direction he last saw the man.

"Twelve o'clock from our previous position," Hanzo answers simply. "I needed more arrows."

When Jesse finally finds him, the others are already calling in their successes in clearing out Null Sector, and Hanzo is calmly dodging around a lone omnic to shoot it point blank through the back of the head.

"The bow is far more versatile than simply a long distance weapon," Hanzo states as he pulls the arrow from the omnic's still frame while Jesse approaches. Jesse cocks a brow, surprised to have been noticed with the archer's back turned, but then, Genji has the same crazy senses, so he really shouldn't be.

"I noticed," he says dryly as Hanzo frowns at the broken shaft of his arrow.

"Did you bring my case?"

"Mildly offended you thought I'd leave it," Jesse snorts, holding it out.

"Unlike Genji," Hanzo notes, snapping off the head of the arrow and discarding the shaft, "I do not know you." Then, just as Jesse is about to offer to change that, "Yet."

Taken aback, Jesse hands over the case without a word when the man reaches for it, and he can't stop staring at Hanzo's perfect features while the archer disassembles his bow and puts it and his remaining arrows away.

Jesse may be able to read people, but Hanzo is still a mystery in every other way.

•×•

As soon as they return to the base, Winston pulls him aside, waving the captains ― minus Shrike, who's still unconscious and gets taken to the infirmary with Baptiste ― to the briefing room ahead of him.

"Well?"

"Well, I didn't fire Peacekeeper even once," Jesse hedges.

"Jesse..." Winston scolds, frowning.

"I ain't jokin'," Jesse insists. "Hanzo's more than capable, and fits right in. We been sorely missin' people on overwatch since Ana, and Hanzo's just as good at close range as long. Saved Brig and Zen directly, and probably more indirectly with how many he took out. He's a hella better pick than me to be an eye in the sky."

"Good, good," Winston nods, pleased. "And your opinion? What do you think about him?"

_ You don't want to know... _

"Thought he'd be a bit more... I dunno, stuck up, I guess, way Genji talked about him. He's really tryin'; whatever else he is, he's genuine."

"They get along, then? Hanzo and Genji?"

"Better 'n expected. They're really puttin' the past behind 'em."

"Excellent," Winston beams. "Good work, Jesse. Try to keep an eye on him, though, just in case; better safe than sorry, right?"

"Sure, boss," Jesse nods, his gut twisting weirdly. Half of him hates having to be Hanzo's jailer, but the other half is eager for any excuse to stick around the man.

With a happy little wave, Winston heads for the briefing room, and Jesse goes the opposite direction toward the dormitories. He barely turns a corner before Hanzo falls into step beside him.

"Keep an eye on me?" the archer asks lightly. Jesse winces.

"Heard that, huh?"

"I did not mean to eavesdrop," Hanzo says apologetically. "I heard my name."

"How much d'ya hear?"

"Most of it, I think. You were assigned to watch me?"

"Assess," Jesse corrects, not liking the implications of Hanzo's phrasing, even if they're accurate. "Winston wanted to know what yer capable of."

"And to ensure I would not betray my brother again," Hanzo states wryly. "Overwatch has no reason to trust me; I understand that. I am not surprised that someone was assigned to watch me. Or...  _ Is _ assigned, I suppose."

"Better safe than sorry," Jesse echoes weakly.

"Of course." Taking a breath and squaring his shoulders, Hanzo looks up with a wry smile. "I trust you are prepared to be a tour guide; I know nothing of the layout of this compound, nor where I am allowed and prohibited." Jesse laughs, relaxing.

"Not to worry, darlin', I got you. This way's the dorm; we'll find yer room and get ya settled, then make the rounds so you can see the rest o' the place."

He spends the rest of the morning showing Hanzo around the base, until the exhaustion he kept at bay with a nap on the ORCA catches up to him and he starts yawning more than talking. Then, with a promise that the base is open at all hours due to the nature of their business, Jesse excuses himself to get some proper sleep around noon.

The expectation that he'd conk out the moment his head the pillow is met, but with sleep comes dreams, and when he wakes with a hard on, he spends a good half hour glaring tiredly at the ceiling and grappling with the realisation that he's fully and completely attracted to the deadly beauty of a man he can neither touch nor avoid for the foreseeable future.

Fuck everything about this.

•×•

Jesse is... an enigma. Once he excuses himself to sleep, Hanzo meanders through the base, familiarising himself with the places Jesse showed him and giving himself time to think.

He wasn't lying when he said he hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but he was pointedly vague about how much he heard of the conversation between Jesse and Winston. While it truly isn't a surprise that he's been given a guardian, he is mildly surprised that Jesse was the one chosen for the task. He would think Genji's best friend a biased party, given Genji's own persistence in championing Hanzo's presence here. And yet, Jesse presented an objective assessment of the abilities he witnessed, as well as of Hanzo's interactions with Genji.

If Hanzo didn't know any better, he'd interpret Jesse's hesitation at the end as reluctance to be a pawn. Or perhaps reluctance to be tied to Hanzo? But if that was the case why has Jesse been so cheerfully pleasant? And the flow of their banter is even easier than Hanzo could have hoped.

Hanzo swore he would do everything he could to put aside his pride and find himself a place here, alongside his brother, and things are going well. Too well. So well that Hanzo is already on edge waiting for the other shoe to drop.

He finds himself pacing the dormitory halls restlessly, pausing first in front of Genji's door, as was once a familiar habit of their childhood. But he can't bring himself to interject between Genji and his soulmate, the omnic monk, so he turns away, wandering aimlessly and anxiously until he finds himself in front of Jesse's door.

The fact that he even notices, much more pauses, is incredibly telling, and for a moment Hanzo can't think beyond the realisation that he trusts the outrageously stereotypical American far more than he probably should.

It's going to be another sleepless night, it seems.

Or, day, rather...

Unlike Genji, Hanzo can only sleep when he's too exhausted to stay awake any longer, and completely sure of his safety. Neither of those conditions have been met, so Hanzo takes a breath, hitches his bow case higher on his shoulder, and goes to the training centre.

•×•

Things are going better with Hanzo than expected, Jesse muses after the archer's normally stoic expression cracks to allow a small laugh at one of his corny jokes. It's hardly been a month but already Hanzo is fitting in, sliding neatly into place as a must pick for stealth missions and operations that require an eye in the sky. Jesse can't even be mad that he goes on fewer mission rosters when even he can see that the archer is clearly the better choice. But more than that, Hanzo is slowly warming up to everyone, and they're slowly warming up to him; in the first week, very little was seen of him outside scheduled training and team building exercises, most meals, and the occasional run in at the training centre or in the gardens, but in the latest week or so, Hanzo has surreptitiously joined two movie nights ― slipping quietly into the back and leaving the instant the credits roll ― and lingers longer after exercises to listen while the others chat and mingle a bit.

And the fact that he just laughed at something that normally makes others groan says that his sense of humour overlaps at least a little bit with Jesse's. It shouldn't make him as inordinately delighted as it does, but... Well, everything about Hanzo makes Jesse inordinately delighted. It's like God made a checklist of everything Jesse could ever want in a person and used it as a recipe for making Hanzo.

He stares fondly at the archer until Hanzo asks bluntly if he has something on his face, obviously aware that it's not the reason.

"Nah, darlin'; just got lost in my thoughts," is Jesse's reply, but something changes after that, and not just for the rest of the conversation. Hanzo is quieter around him, observing more than interacting, and acts like he doesn't know what to do with Jesse.

And really, that's entirely fair, because now Jesse doesn't know what to do with Hanzo. At first his attraction to the archer was almost purely physical, a quiet flounder in his head as he struggled not to say or do anything stupid around the most gorgeous human being he'd ever met. But now, after a month of spending most of their free time together, Jesse feels a tug in his chest around the archer that he knows damn well is a crush, but Lord have mercy if he knows how to even attempt to pursue the man.

It's not like he can ask Hanzo out on a date... For one thing, they spend most of their time together anyway, and they already eat together for every meal unless Hanzo skips out. And for another, you don't just walk up to someone  _ that _ perfect and ask them out; it never works. Hanzo is so far out of Jesse's league he couldn't try even if he strapped himself to a rocket and shot himself into space.

Of course, that doesn't stop him from flirting. But that's just a part of who Jesse McCree is as a person, and apparently Hanzo realised that early on, because he always takes it in stride and, on very rare occasion ― probably when he's in a really good mood ― he gives a little back that's just as good as he gets; more than once he's made Jesse flush and scramble for a reply or an excuse.

Two weeks later, Jesse gets his confirmation that Hanzo really doesn't know what to do with him.

A small team goes out, including Hanzo and Genji, for a very important mission that requires total stealth. While they're gone, Zenyatta's life count goes down by one, and everyone knows something went wrong. Jesse waits with agonising impatience for their return, trying to remind himself that Zenyatta has more to fear because it's his soulmate out there, but unable to stop imagining the worst. Twenty-four hours pass, but Zenyatta's life count doesn't change, and that's slight reassurance, but enough to ease the growing tension around base; if Genji had died permanently, Zenyatta would be on his last life, so things must be safe enough at least for Genji to have gotten through his State of Slumber.

Then the team finally returns, no other lives lost, and everyone throws an impromptu party in celebration. Jesse takes three shots of the hardest alcohol available and goes looking for Hanzo ― either to kiss him or confess his crush, or maybe both; he's not sure yet ― only to find him and Genji in the medical bay with Zenyatta and Angela. He catches his name just before he enters the room, and stops short reactively to listen.

"...was rather frantic for your return as well," Zenyatta is stating, incredibly calm for someone who could have lost his soulmate.

"I can only imagine how difficult it must be to know your best friend is in danger," Hanzo agrees ruefully. "Particularly when the one meant to protect him has killed him once already."

"That isn't what he means, Hanzo," Genji says lightly.

"It wasn't Genji he kept asking about," Angela adds, sounding highly amused.

"...You mean me," Hanzo replies quietly after a moment.

"The man is absolutely smitten with you," Angela laughs. "He follows you around like a lovesick puppy and brightens up the moment you walk into the room."

"He was assigned to watch me," Hanzo denies, a faint note of bitterness undercutting his tone. "To ensure that I did not repeat history."

"It has never been an assignment to him," Zenyatta notes. "Only an excuse."

"You have more than earned our trust," Angela assures. "What Winston did was merely a precaution, a way to save face if something went wrong, but there isn't a single person on this base who doesn't believe you've proven yourself, Hanzo. Jesse could have ended the assignment two weeks in and no one would have bat an eye."

Well that's news to Jesse, but he stays quiet, needing to hear Hanzo's response.

"Are you oblivious, or avoiding the obvious?" Zenyatta asks, unusually blunt in his delivery.

"...I... am neither," Hanzo answers softly, sounding a little bit lost. "I have known for a while that he is attracted to me."

"He is more than simply attracted to you, brother," Genji snorts, and tacks on something in Japanese that, judging by Angela's squeak, made Hanzo blush.

"I know," Hanzo mutters, definitely sounding flustered. "But I..."

"Are you not attracted to men?" Zenyatta asks.

"Oh, he's definitely attracted to men," Genji answers for him, cackling. "And unless his tastes have changed, Jesse is squarely his type."

Hanzo's lack of response makes Jesse burn from the neck up, and he fidgets, desperately wanting to enter the room but not daring to yet.

"Is it something about his personality then?" Angela asks curiously. "Jesse is certainly an acquired taste."

"No." Jesse tries not to let himself get excited over how gentle Hanzo sounds. "He has made me feel more welcome than anyone else."

"Then what holds you back?" Zenyatta presses. Jesse holds his breath.

For a long time, there's only silence, and then Hanzo says something quietly in Japanese. Genji makes an indecipherable noise and there's some sort of clatter that has Jesse's feet moving before he realises it, but he stops himself before he turns the corner.

" _ That's _ what this is about?" Genji sounds far more exasperated than Jesse's ever heard him before. "Hanzo, he won't care! You are the only one who cares about it; I have kept it secret for your sake, but I promise you no one here will care!"

"You do not know that," Hanzo mutters. Jesse can't help himself any longer; he pushes around the corner and strides into the bay with as big a smile as he can manage in his... slightly inebriated state.

"Know what?" he asks, hoping no one realises how much he heard. "What're we carin' about?"

"My idiot brother thinks you will care-"

"Genji!" Hanzo snaps viciously, making Angela take a step back.

"-about something he feels makes him a freak," Genji barrels on without hesitation.

"Enough," Hanzo warns, scowling at his brother, who throws up his hands.

"It is your own business who and when you tell your secret, not mine. Zen, I am tired; I will be in our room, if you want to join the festivities."

"They are in your honour," Zenyatta notes, already reaching for his soulmate. "Are you sure you do not want to participate?"

"I died today," Genji says bluntly, sliding off the examination table and taking Zenyatta's hand. "All I want is to feel you, and to sleep."

Angela rolls her eyes, but seems to remember something as they're leaving and hurries after them with a rushed, "Wait, Genji!" leaving Hanzo and Jesse alone.

"So, uh..." Jesse isn't quite sure what to say, and as a result, he just starts rambling. "Okay, full disclosure, I mighta... er, eavesdropped just a bit. And I am so sorry if I ever made you uncomfortable followin' you around; I know it's my job to keep an eye on you, but if I ever get annoyin' or too in yer space or whatever, I ain't got a single problem with you tellin' me off. Just say the word and I'll... uh... I'll... Why're you starin' at me like that?"

Hanzo drops his gaze, not quite managing to hide the small smirk on his kissable lips before Jesse notices, and good God if he doesn't want to see if the archer's lips taste as good as they look. He even starts to take a step forward, but catches himself just in time, barely holding back.

"I suppose it is only fair," Hanzo muses, sliding off the examination table and stretching an arm up and back behind his head. "I did eavesdrop on your conversation with Winston." He stifles a yawn, and the noise that escapes Jesse is most certainly  _ not _ a whine.

Although  _ maybe _ it could be considered a whimper... maybe.

Hell if Jesse's gonna admit it though.

"Er, tired?" he manages, certain he sounds like a squeaky door right now. His attention is entirely fixed on the tiny curl at the corner of Hanzo's mouth, just on the brink of blossoming into a full smile.

Lord have mercy; he'd never survive a full blown smile from this man.

"Somewhat," Hanzo admits, sounding amused.

He's shorter, Jesse realises suddenly. By a good two or three inches. Still tall, because Jesse's just freakishly big, but it strikes him as oddly adorable, for some reason.

"You should, uh... You should get some sleep," Jesse says, his brain completely disconnected from his mouth at this point. He doesn't even register that he spoke until Hanzo tips his head and cocks a sceptical brow, still amused.

"You do not sound very certain," the archer notes. "Were you thinking of another activity? Drinking, perhaps?"

Oh good heavens...

Now Jesse's  _ definitely _ thinking of other activities. And drinking ain't one of them.

"I- Now hold on there, darlin'..."

"What? Are you concerned about my ability to hold my liquor?" Hanzo is absolutely amused, but Jesse isn't quite caught up enough to head off the teasing. "I can assure you that I am more than capable of handling myself against you."

_ Oh darlin', I'd rather have you handlin' me. _

"Uhh..." That elegantly framed response draws a snicker from the archer, who steps past him, arms brushing ever so slightly, and Jesse bites back a groan of longing as he turns quickly to keep facing Hanzo.

"If you are not interested in being drunk under the table, then I will retire for the night," the archer says casually.

It's a bait. Jesse knows it, knows he shouldn't give in. It's exactly what Hanzo wants.

Well, fuck; all the more reason.

"I didn't say that," Jesse says quickly, almost tripping over his own feet to keep up with Hanzo. "I just, uh... I might be a little bit on the tipsy side already."

"Then I will drink to match you, to level the playing field," Hanzo offers simply, heading for the mess hall, where everyone else is still enjoying themselves.

"I- You sure, darlin'?"

"Of course. You may even choose the drink."

"Okay, but, er... drinkin' shot after shot ain't exactly healthy, and I still got some fight in me so I'll go a while, but... Can we at least play a game or somethin'? Poker? Take a shot every hand?"

"I have never played poker," Hanzo hums thoughtfully. "Teach me?"

"Of course!" Jesse replies instantly. "Wait, seriously?"

"Seriously," Hanzo nods, hiding another smile. "We played mahjong and wei qi in our youth; poker was too 'American' for the clan. That did not stop Genji, of course, but I never played."

"Well alright then; guess we're playin' poker."

Jesse teaches Hanzo how to play, and Hanzo takes a shot for every hand until they finish the practice game. After that, Hanzo proceeds to utterly destroy Jesse until they're both too drunk to see straight and Angela chases them to bed with irate scolding that leaves them both giggling on the way out but cursing themselves the entire next day.

Jesse uses that as an excuse to pretend he doesn't remember anything, and apparently Hanzo agrees; neither of them speak of it again.

•×•

"First time we'll be teamed up since yer first day," Jesse points out as they gather their equipment and ready for departure. Hanzo looks up at him, mentally cataloguing every mission he's been on in the past three months and realising that the cowman is in fact correct.

"Things will be slightly easier this time, I should think," he muses, double checking that he put the extra bowstrings he bought recently in his bow case. It's difficult to find strings strong enough to use with his bow, and thus they're expensive to purchase, but a seller he found a few years back has been providing the best strings consistently ever since.

"We can hope at least," Jesse chuckles, fingers tapping against his Peacekeeper. Hanzo tries not to smile at the familiar tick; the cowman is eager and impatient for some action after being mostly sidelined for so long.

Actually, now that he's thinking about it, Hanzo can't recall ever seeing Jesse fire the Peacekeeper outside the training centre. He eyes the man as they board the ORCA, but other than the tick, Jesse is no different than usual, trading jokes with Lucio and Hana, and laughing with Angela and Reinhardt.

Hanzo thinks back over his time here, trying to remember all the times Jesse's been on a mission. No matter how much he tries, he can only think of a handful of rosters that he's seen the cowman's name on, and only the less dangerous ones.

"Dr. Zeigler," he says suddenly, a realisation striking him low in his gut. Gesturing her closer, he steps away from the others. Angela excuses herself and joins him at the back of the ship, politely curious. Keeping his voice low, Hanzo faces away from the others. "How many lives does McCree have left?"

Angela's gentle expression steels, and that's already answer enough. Her gaze flicks past him, and after a moment's hesitation, she gives a short sigh.

"He's on his last."

"He has not been assigned to many missions since I arrived," Hanzo notes, an explanation and an observation.

"Yes. You are not the only one with secrets; we've been trying to keep him away from dangerous missions where we can." It's a warning not to tell Jesse, but Hanzo wouldn't have said anything regardless.

"How many do you have?" he asks instead. She covers her wrist, a faint grimace curling her lips.

"I'm not entirely sure... My wrist says one, but I haven't aged in years, and I have died twice since I reached my last life. We think my early experimentations with nanite healing disrupted the usual life-death cycle of lives we normally have, and we have no way of knowing how many I truly have, so I stay away from the frontlines and hope the next time I die won't be the last." That surprises Hanzo, but he bites his tongue before he says anything.

This changes everything about the mission for him. And about other things, but especially the mission. He looks around at the others while Angela makes her way back to her seat. How many lives do they all have left? And still they willingly put themselves in harm's way to protect those who can't protect themselves. He's never thought of his extra lives as anything but a curse, never considered that others would think of anything but saving up their lives, and yet here he is with more lives than all of them put together, hating every single life and wishing he didn't have them while everyone is ready to sacrifice the few they have.

How selfish he's been...

At that moment, he swears to himself that no one at Overwatch will have to sacrifice their lives again, not so long as he can help it. And his first challenge to that oath comes not long after they land.

Reinhardt leads the charge, directing everyone into position while he barrels in headfirst to create space, Hana following close behind in Toki. Despite the element of surprise, the enemy rallies too quickly and pushes back, looking to cut off Hana and Reinhardt from the rest of them.

Jesse doesn't even hesitate to jump right in, and Lucio scrambles after him with a hasty crossfade into a healing song; for the first time, Hanzo gets a proper look at the cowman's capabilities, and part of him wonders how the man could possibly be on his last life.

In all his years, Hanzo has met a lot of talented and deadly people, individuals who entertained death like an affluent guest, tradesmen whose livelihood was the demise of others. Jesse isn't like any of them; like everything he does, he doles out judgment with his Peacekeeper in loud, sharp retorts, but unlike his gentle, welcoming personality, every shot is crude and violently bloody, a surety of death. There is no elegance, no careful precision; only inevitability.

It's brutal, and it sends a shiver down Hanzo's spine that he isn't entirely sure is a bad thing, which he hopes he can pass off as distaste. Still, his gaze tracks Jesse through the chaos, more often following the bright red of the man's serape than picking the next target for his arrows, and although his accuracy never wanes, his rate of fire does.

Unfortunately, his supply of arrows is still finite, and too soon he runs out; because he was distracted, he's not even sure where all of them went, so he'll have to make more when they return to base.

As he heads for the nearest spent arrow, he catches movement out of the corner of his eye, and some deep instinctual piece of his mind alerts him to the danger at the same moment that he registers the fact that all of his allies are in front of him. Darting forward, he dives over the body of one of his victims, snatching his arrow mid roll, and comes up with his bow already drawn, ready to fire. The hapless enemy flanker receives an arrow through the eye for their trouble, and Hanzo breathes a small sigh of relief, only to sense another presence too close behind to be an ally. He whirls, bringing up his bow, but without an arrow, it's only good for defense, and only against a melee attack; if the enemy has a gun...

"Hanzo!" The now familiar bark of a six-shooter echoes in his ears as the enemy across from him jolts, rifle firing a wide, reactive spray that chips into the wall to his left. The enemy falls, dead, but Hanzo's attention is already elsewhere. Specifically, the cowman rushing over to help him to his feet, splattered with blood but expression vacant of anything except worry.

"Excellent shot," Hanzo states before he can say anything, allowing Jesse to help him up.

"Gotten lotsa practice," Jesse huffs, checking him over as subtly as possible.

"It shows," Hanzo approves. It brings a lovely little blush to the cowman's features, but Hanzo doesn't get to appreciate his handiwork; another flanker appears beyond Jesse, and there's no time for warnings.

Snatching Jesse against him, Hanzo spins around, putting himself between the man and their enemy just as another gunshot cracks. Jesse's reaction is almost as fast; one strong arm wraps firmly around Hanzo's waist, and the other brings Peacekeeper up in an instant, firing off two rounds before clicking empty.

For a long moment, Hanzo feels nothing, and he dares to hope the enemy soldier missed. Then he blinks, and fire blossoms through his back, flaring into white hot agony that steals his breath and makes his head pound.

Jesse says something, but blood is pounding in Hanzo's ears, and the sickly familiar feeling of death's embrace tightens around him, numbing everything. His senses fade, but contrary to popular belief, vision is the last to go for Hanzo, and the last thing he sees before the darkness consumes him is Jesse's heartbroken terror.

•×•

Coming up out of SoS is always strange. Despite having made a full recovery in twenty-four hours, he still died, and Hanzo's brain experiences a surge of baffled panic when he wakes. He blinks at the ceiling, heart pounding sharply against his ribs and in his ears, and he tries and fails for several concerning moments to remember how he died. Then it all comes back and he bolts upright with a gasp.

Angela bursts into the tiny room seconds later and he realises belatedly that he's hooked up to a monitor and an IV in the SoS Recovery Room of the medical bay.

"How are you feeling?" she asks, already checking his vitals. "Anything unusual? Any soreness or pain?"

"No, I... I am alright," Hanzo answers, steadying his breathing and giving his heart a chance to calm down. When he feels a bit calmer, he lets himself ask, "Where is McCree?"

"Jesse's fine," she assures, writing something down. "He tried to stay up for you, but he was falling asleep on his feet so I made him lie down in another room; he refused to go back to his own."

Hanzo considers for a long time, debating inwardly and forcing himself to remain quiet while Angela finishes her report and unhooks him from her equipment. Then he sits up, feeling unusually exposed in the thin examination robe and hoping none of his belongings have been lost or misplaced.

"May I go?" he finally asks.

"Of course!" Angela smiles, pushing her glasses to the top of her head. "Jesse's right next door if you want to go see him while I get your things."

Hanzo doesn't reply, but once Angela's gone, he only hesitates a moment before slipping off the bed and out of the room to go next door. Jesse is sprawled on the bed in that room, still fully dressed down to his spurs with his hat over his face and softly snoring.

Without knowing why, Hanzo approaches the bed ― maybe to see for himself that Jesse is alive and well, or maybe because he just wants to feel the cowman's warmth. The moment he's within touching range, Jesse jolts upright, Peacekeeper appearing out of nowhere against Hanzo's forehead.

The hat falls to the ground.

"Hanzo?" In the very next instant, Peacekeeper is on the bed, dropped with a carelessness that would shock Hanzo if he wasn't already busy being shocked by Jesse's arms tightening around his shoulders, nose buried in his hair and hands trembling against his back.

That, in combination with the raggedness of each strained breath struggling not to cry, tells Hanzo just how deep Jesse's feelings run. It touches some tiny piece of his soul that he didn't know existed, and all he can do is return the embrace, nuzzling against the unkempt scruff of Jesse's beard.

A knock at the door cuts the moment brutally short, and Jesse jerks back just as Angela enters, clearing his throat and straining to mask his emotions as he bends to scoop up his hat.

"Oh, sorry," Angela winces, quickly placing a bundle of clothes and Hanzo's bow case on the bed before scurrying out.

"Sorry 'bout that," Jesse manages, clearing his throat again and avoiding Hanzo's gaze. "Didn't get a lotta sleep 'n I'm not myself right now." His voice is harsh, tear-roughened, but slowly easing back to its usual cadence.

"You waited up for me," Hanzo notes, his own voice softer than he meant to allow. Red creeps up under Jesse's beard, and he ducks his head to hide it.

"...Was worried you wouldn't come back," the cowman says quietly, fiddling with the brim of his hat.

"I have more than enough lives to spare," Hanzo assures. Then, hesitantly, "I would rather it be me than you... since you are on your last."

"Aw, now who told?" Jesse grimaces. "Was it Genji? Bet it was Genji, that ass..."

"Angela, actually. How...?"

"How'd I lose 'em all?" Jesse supplies grimly, reaching for Peacekeeper and absently checking it over.

"I was going to ask how you could do anything, knowing you may die for good," Hanzo corrects, suddenly needing to feel Storm Bow against his palms. He steps over to the end of the bed and opens the case, a small wash of relief curling through him to see that his precious bow was recovered and taken apart, if a bit haphazardly, for storage.

"That's easy," Jesse huffs as Hanzo pulls a piece of Storm Bow from the case to inspect it. "Some people are worth dyin' for."

Hanzo stops. Logically, he knows Jesse means people in general, that there are good people out there who deserve to be fought for. But that doesn't stop his heart from fluttering and his stomach from jumping.

"Is that how you lost the rest?" he asks, carefully keeping his voice even.

"No, that was just plain stupidity on my part," Jesse scoffs, settling on the edge of the bed and watching Hanzo go back to inspecting his bow. "Most of 'em I lost bein' a reckless teen in my Deadlock days. The rest slipped away in Blackwatch, and the second-to-last went to save a little girl bein' hunted by some none too nice folk."

"I would not call  _ that _ stupidity," Hanzo says as lightly as he can.

"Sounds all good 'n heroic, but I tried to outsnipe a sniper."

Hanzo blinks, trying to process that.

This man pit his six-shooter against a sniper rifle.

Laughter bubbles up Hanzo's throat and off his tongue before he can stop it, and then he's half bent over the bow case in his mirth, and Jesse's staring at him with a mix of awe and adoration that should make him embarrassed but really just makes him all the more giddy.

"Of course you did," he manages finally, swiping a tear from the corner of his eye and carefully closing his bow case. "That is so very characteristic of you."

"Never said I was very smart," Jesse points out ruefully, dropping his gaze to his lap.

"Your compassion more than makes up for your perceived lack of wits," Hanzo muses, lifting his clothes and idly wondering whether or not to change before going to his room. He should also visit with Winston and find out how the mission went ― presumably successfully if they've all returned to the base.

"Dunno that it's just perceived... I ain't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed."

That brings Hanzo's attention back to the situation at hand. Every part of him viscerally denies this, and he doesn't even think before he speaks.

"You are far more intelligent than you care to admit. And you see more clearly than others. You are not stupid, you are not ignorant ― willfully or otherwise ― and most certainly you are not dull. Impetuous, perhaps... Stubborn. You have a very clearly defined sense of right and wrong, and you do not stop to think before acting on what you know to be right. That does not make you stupid. Only foolhardy."

Jesse stares at him for a long time, long enough to make him self-conscious, and he turns his attention back to his clothing, deciding a shower first is preferable. Then he can go talk to Winston, get something to eat, and maintain Storm Bow, not necessarily in that order.

"Well if that don't beat all," Jesse chuckles, standing. "Where's Genji? I need to tell him I got one helluva compliment from Shimada Hanzo."

"...I forgot one thing," Hanzo says blandly as Jesse passes. The cowman pauses in the door, waiting, and Hanzo gives him the most deadpan stare he can manage. "You are also incredibly childish."

"What can I say, darlin'?" Jesse grins with a playful wink that makes Hanzo's breath catch. "You make me see the joy of livin' again."

•×•

They say it's the little things in life that make it worth living, and Jesse one hundred and fifty percent agrees with that. Admittedly, most of those 'little things' pertain to Hanzo, but well... how can he  _ not _ think that when everything the archer does makes him melt?

He's head over heels, and he knows it. Worse, Hanzo knows it.

You'd think there'd be some stagnation or frustration or something, but really, it's more like... idling. Like some kind of waiting period while Hanzo decides what to do with him. And Jesse is surprisingly okay with it.

"Isn't it bothersome?" Genji asks one day after training.

"What?" Jesse tears his gaze from the sheen of sweat that turns Hanzo's skin shiny and highlights every band of hard muscle.

"That you have all but confessed outright and he hasn't responded." Genji hands him a towel and a bottle of water, and he flops down on the ground after taking them.

"Nah," he hums, wiping his face so he can take a drink without tasting his own sweat. "He'll figure things out in his own time; I got no problem waitin'."

"But you are on your last life," Genji points out, crouching beside him. "You are aging and he is not."

"And?" Jesse shrugs. "I've still got time. Ain't like I'm dyin' tomorrow."

"And what if he decides he is not interested?"

"Then I'll do my damnedest to woo him."

"Oh my God, Jesse." He can't see it, but he can absolutely imagine the ninja rolling his eyes. "Woo? Were you born in the eighteenth century?"

"Hey now, whatever else I am, I pride myself on bein' a gentleman, thank you very much."

"I can see that," Genji snorts. "Just... ask him on a date."

"Ya don't just  _ ask _ someone like that on a date," Jesse retorts, giving him a look. "Hanzo's outta my league by a mile 'n a half; people like that gotta be the one to make the first move."

"So if he asked first, you would say yes?"

Something about the way Genji asks tips him off and he turns to see Hanzo cock a brow at him; heat floods up his neck and into his face.

"I-" At that moment, his messenger pings, and he isn't sure whether to be grateful or irritated.

A new mission. And he's leaving  _ now _ .

"Shit..." Running the towel through his hair, he swallows the last of his water and tosses the towel at Genji on his way out. "Put that away for me?"

There's a bit of a commotion going on in the hangar when he finally gathers his things and gets there. Shrike is not happy about something, and when he gets closer, he can see why.

Soldier 76, who was also on the roster, has a patch of blood along his side, and Hana is frantic with apologies. He and Shrike are arguing about his ability to complete the mission, but it's hard to hear who's winning when Hana is practically sobbing.

"What's goin' on?" Jesse asks, even though he can see it already.

"Soldier was injured and insists he can still go," Shrike huffs. "You are not going anywhere."

"Like hell I'm not," Soldier growls. "It's not that bad!"

"I'm so sorry!" Hana whimpers.

"Calm down, Hana," Jesse says gently, patting her shoulder. "You didn't kill 'im; that's good enough for now."

"What's going on?" Winston asks, padding up to the conversation.

"Still tryna figure that out myself," Jesse says blandly.

It finally gets sorted out that Hana was working on Toki in the hangar when Soldier entered and startled her at the wrong moment; something snapped and broke off of Toki's frame, slamming into Soldier's side and tearing open a massive gash that would have been much deeper but for his body armour and ribs.

"That won't do..." Winston rumbles, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Soldier, I'm taking you off the roster. This mission is too important for anything to go wrong."

"I'm fine," Soldier insists for the nth time. "I'll be healed by the time we get there."

"Doubtful, and we need Angela at full strength for whatever you might run into."

"That's not-!"

"Go see Baptiste, Soldier." Clearly frustrated but unwilling to disobey a direct order, Soldier leaves.

"Who's gonna take his place?" Jesse asks, still absently stroking Hana's back in soothing circles even though she's long since calmed down.

"I'm not sure..." Winston admits with a from. "Genji or Hanzo, I think..."

"I will go." Jesse jolts and looks over to see the brothers standing nearby. Hanzo steps forward, shoulders drawn back and head up.

"You sure?" Winston asks, glancing between the brothers.

"Let him," Genji shrugs. "He has developed a hero complex."

"I have not," Hanzo huffs, giving his brother a dark look.

"Yes, you have," Genji snickers, waving over his shoulder as he heads for the door. "Go; I have a date tonight with Zen."

"That'll work," Winston nods. "Hanzo, get your things; we're leaving as soon as you're ready."

"I am already prepared," Hanzo says, nodding at the bow case sitting where he and Genji were a moment ago. Jesse tries not to let his affection for the man show, but it's hard when even the little things like this make him so happy.

"Excellent!" Winston beams. "Let's go!"

As they load up, Jesse sidles up beside Hanzo and nudges at him with an elbow.

"So... you just carry that around everywhere?" he asks, half teasing.

"It is the only possession I have left that means anything to me," Hanzo answers softly, trailing his fingers along the case. A small smile tugs at his lips as he glances up at Jesse. "I imagine you feel similar about your Peacekeeper."

"Probably," Jesse snorts. "Ain't nothin' I care more about than my hat, boots, and gun." Then, realising what he said, "Er... Nothin' material, I mean. That is..."

"I understand," Hanzo assures, waving him off. "We are alike that way."

While Jesse's still processing that, Hanzo moves away to take a seat, placing his bow case across his knees and opening it for one last unnecessary check of his equipment. Jesse's too busy trying to wrap his head around the fact that Hanzo put them on the same level, that the archer considers them equals.

He realises rather abruptly that this is probably a direct result of the conversation he had with Genji about not being in the same league, and his heart flutters at the thought that Hanzo might think otherwise.

Too soon ―  _ far _ too soon ― they're touching down and Jesse has to turn his attention back to the mission. That doesn't stop him from being acutely aware of exactly where Hanzo is at all times, and more than once he moves to accommodate the archer without looking. It physically hurts to let him leave when the time comes to go find high ground, but he bears it without a word, taking comfort whenever Hanzo checks in.

The mission is supposed to be a quick, quiet in and out, and everyone else is basically just an honour guard to protect Winston while he does his computery thing that Jesse can't follow ― he can work the basics, and he's got no trouble navigating the internet, but when it comes to coding and programming and all that shit? He'll gladly leave that to the scientists.

They make it in just fine. But just as they're finishing up and about to get out, then all hell breaks loose, and the only warning they get is a hissed "Incoming, four o'clock!" from Hanzo.

Jesse darts to the corner in time to grab the first guard as they come around it, and he whips them up against the wall, smashing the back of their head against solid stone hard enough to hear it. The guard goes down silently, and the ruddy stain on on the stone doesn't bode well for their future health, but Jesse doesn't have time to think about it; Winston thumps past him as the other guard cries out in shock, and it isn't entirely clear whether his fist or Hanzo's arrow take them down first.

Too late; the guard must have had just enough time to hit a panic button because suddenly klaxons are blaring and lights are flashing and a tinny female voice is warning of intruders.

"Sounds like we poked the hornet's nest," Jesse mutters, pulling Hanzo's arrow from the body and tucking it into his belt; at the very least he knows the arrowheads are hard to make and Hanzo tries to recycle them as much as possible, so even if the shaft breaks, hopefully he can get the head back to the archer.

"Let's get out of here before we get stung," Angela says shortly, drawing her pistol.

"You have a clear shot to the exit," Hanzo informs. "But it will not stay that way for long; I see... four pairs of guards heading your way, and at least one will cut you off if you do not get out in the next few minutes."

"Think you can do anything about that?" Winston asks, urging Jesse and Angela toward the exit.

"Not reliably," Hanzo grumps, sounding slightly petulant, at least to Jesse's ears. He can almost imagine the archer pouting in annoyance, and honestly? It's too cute for words.

"Why not, sugar? No line o' sight?" he asks, aware only after the fact of the pet name he used. Fortunately, no one else reacts.

"Fragmented line of sight," Hanzo corrects. "I cannot judge when they will enter my line of sight well enough to risk a shot."

"Take it anyway," Winston orders. "I know it'll ruin your accuracy record, but we need every second we can get; lead it a bit and see if you can distract them at all."

"...I will do my best," the archer promises. Jesse wishes he could collect those arrows too, but they need to get out, now.

They reach the exit without incident, surprisingly enough, and head for the hidden ship.

"Hanzo, get out of there quickly and head for the rendezvous point," Winston says, pausing to check for signs of pursuit. "Are you clear to move?"

"On my way, Captain," Hanzo replies, apparently automatically. No one mentions it, and Jesse holds his breath, waiting for the archer to check in again.

His heart stops when he hears gunfire from the direction of Hanzo's perch.

"Jesse, wait!" Angela calls. He didn't realise he was moving but he ain't stopping now; he bolts toward the commotion, the klaxons punctuated by gunfire ringing in his ears and threatening to drive him into a panic.

Hanzo bursts out of a building with a growled curse, right into Jesse's arms, and immediately rams the heel of his hand into Jesse's chin, knocking him back. He sits down hard, groaning at the sudden burst of pain through his skull as Hanzo gasps.

"Jesse! Wh-"

A bullet ricochets off the door frame behind him and he ducks instinctively. Jesse, on the other hand, lunges to his feet and snatches Hanzo's hand, yanking him away from the door and back toward the ship. Gunshots patter like metal rain behind them, but neither hesitates, and Jesse prays they make it out alive.

As if to mock him, Hanzo gives a small yelp and stumbles, his hand almost jerking from Jesse's. When Jesse turns to help him, everything slows to a halt when he sees the patches of blood at Hanzo's hip and knee.

"Shit, Han..."

"I'm fine; keep moving," the archer grinds out, trying to urge Jesse forward.

Just as Jesse takes a step, a line of fire burns across his upper arm, immediately followed by a sunburst of pain through his lower back that spears all the way to the front of his stomach. It's his turn to stumble, thrown forward by the force of it, and Hanzo almost falls with him.

"Jesse! Stand up; we must keep moving!"

The guards are closing in, and Hanzo's right in the line of fire. Jesse knows full well that Hanzo has more lives than he does, but what if he doesn't? What if he was lying? What if this is his last life and he didn't want anyone to know? He's opened up a lot since the first days, but he's still got his pride and maybe that pride won't let him be sidelined like Jesse has been.

An ache gnaws at Jesse's chest as he recalls the agony of waiting through Hanzo's last SoS. He can't do that again. Can't sit there, waiting helplessly to see if Hanzo was lying or not. Most of all, he can't watch Hanzo die in his arms again.

"...Sorry, Han." The archer's expression flits from confusion to understanding in a matter of seconds, and he starts to protest, but Jesse shoves him around a corner and draws Peacekeeper as a cluster of guards take cover not far away.

He takes out five of them before a bullet punches straight through his eye.

•×•

There's an instant of residual psychological pain that makes Jesse's eye ache something fierce when he suddenly comes awake to the blinding glare of a sterile white ceiling. Then it's gone and all that's left is utter bafflement.

Shouldn't he be dead right now? Or maybe he is and that's why everything is white.

He carefully sits up.

Nope. This is definitely the med bay in Gibraltar.

Scowling, Jesse checks his wrist... and blinks. He scrubs at it and checks again. No change.

"The hell is goin' on here?" Irritated and looking for answers, he stands and looks around the bay. None of the healers are around, and the waiting area is empty too. He makes a quick check around for his clothes but gives up on that pretty quick, not particularly caring that he's in nothing more than an examination robe right now.

Just as he reaches for the door, it opens to admit a very red-eyed Angela, flanked by Zenyatta and a stern-faced Baptiste. Angela jolts back reactively so she doesn't run into him, and then goes still, puffy eyes widening.

"...Jesse?"

"You- You're supposed to be dead," Baptiste frowns, confused.

"No kiddin'," Jesse agrees, pointing to his wrist even though they can't see his numbers. "Anyone wanna explain how I got infinity lives now?"

"Infinity?" Zenyatta echoes with a faint head tilt, sounding intrigued.

"Either I got eye problems or somebody's dickin' with me," Jesse humphs, squinting at his wrist like that will change what he sees. "I swear on my Ma's grave I only had one life left, but now it's an infinity symbol."

"That's..." Baptiste begins.

"Impossible?" Angela offers softly, gripping her own wrist. "No one in history has ever fully understood how extra lives work. There are always exceptions to the rules."

"So, what?" Jesse scowls. "I'm just suddenly immortal now?"

"I believe," Zenyatta hums lightly, "there is someone you should speak to. Rather, two someones." He squeezes Angela's shoulder a moment and then gestures for Jesse to follow while Baptiste stares after them.

Jesse follows Zenyatta out of the building and into the garden, where he can hear sounds of sparring. Then he sees Genji and Hanzo and he knows immediately what's going on.

Hanzo must blame himself for Jesse's death and is working out his frustration by dueling Genji with... are those real swords? Genji dodges back from a vicious slash, not quite fast enough, and yep, those are real swords; he hisses and cups a small cut across his upper arm that beads with tiny red pearls.

"Easy, Hanzo," he scolds, checking the wound.

"Again," Hanzo barks shortly, already in a ready stance.

Zenyatta makes a polite coughing sound, getting their attention, and both swords hit the ground with grass-muffled clanks.

"You lied!" Genji accuses sharply, jabbing a finger at Jesse. "You had more! I knew you lied!"

"I didn't lie," Jesse grimaces. "I should be dead."

"Genji," Zenyatta speaks up casually. "What number of lives is on your wrist?"

"Ninety-eight," Genji answers without hesitation. "We share them."

"Hanzo," Zenyatta continues. "What does your wrist say?"

Hanzo doesn't answer, his expression hard and uncertain, like he's certain this is all a trick; a sentiment Jesse fully understands. Hesitating, Genji glances back and forth between them for several long, terse moments. Then he cautiously steps toward Jesse.

"Jesse... What is on your wrist?" he asks slowly.

"I swear, Genji, if this is one of your goddamn jokes..."

"What is on your wrist?" Genji presses. "What do you see?"

"An infinity symbol," Jesse grumbles, fed up. "If you didn't put it there, who did?" But Genji isn't even looking at him anymore; he's staring at Hanzo, who's staring at Jesse, disbelieving.

"Hanzo," Zenyatta says again, softer. "What does your wrist say?"

"...Infinity." The word comes out quiet, broken, and Jesse very nearly gives in to the urge to gather the archer in his arms and just hold him. But that urge is supplanted by sceptical shock.

"Y'all jokin' with me?" he growls, unwilling to let himself get his hopes up.

"No," Genji says, a short staccato burst of a word that rings with more sincerity than Jesse thinks he's ever heard from the ninja. "Hanzo panicked when he turned ten. He was certain he was broken, and he made me swear not to tell anyone, especially Father. He has been so careful with his lives, so that no one would figure it out, and still he has died thirty-eight times, that I know of."

"Fifty-three," Hanzo mumbles, and then corrects himself. "Fifty-four."

"Dare I ask what you have been doing in the last decade?" Genji asks, caught between suspicion and amusement.

"You do not want to know," Hanzo humphs.

"Wait wait," Jesse says, rubbing his temples. "Okay, y'all are telling me that A, Hanzo's immortal, and B, now I am too? That's-" It all suddenly sinks in, then, and he drops his hands, looking between the others. "Wa- If I got- But that means...."

An awkward, uneasy silence falls as his trips over his words, unable to say it aloud. Then Genji takes a step and grabs Hanzo by the shoulders, forcibly placing him in front of Jesse before turning to Zenyatta.

"I was thinking we could watch a movie for tonight's date," he says casually, striding away with Zenyatta following cheerfully. "Hana suggested a movie about giant robots fighting sea monsters."

"Sounds intriguing," Zenyatta purrs as they wander out of earshot, leaving Hanzo and Jesse alone. The awkwardness strains, making them both unable to look at each other.

Hanzo makes the first move; clearing his throat, he shifts a little bit closer.

"We are in the same league now," he points out quietly; does he sound a bit nervous, or is it just Jesse? "You never answered Genji's question, so... Would you honour me with your presence at dinner tonight? Just you and me?"

Oh Lord, he  _ is _ nervous. Jesse heats up from the tips of his hair to the soles of his feet and it takes everything he has not to jump for joy and holler like a madman.

"Han, I'm the honoured one," Jesse laughs, hoping he doesn't sound as hysterical as he feels. "You think I could say no to someone so gorgeous? Someone I love enough to give what I thought was my last life for?"

"Love?" Hanzo stares up at him with wide eyes, startled, and Jesse burns even hotter, realising his mistake.

"I- That's- Well, fuck me; I went and stuck my foot so far down my gullet I'm chewin' on my kneecap."

"You... love me?" Hanzo asks in such a soft voice that Jesse very nearly groans aloud.

"Darlin'," he answers honestly, "if it ain't love, there ain't a word in any language I know to describe what I feel for you."

" _ Aishiteru _ ."

"What's that mean?" Jesse asks, cocking a giddy, curious look at Hanzo. The archer blushes and ducks his head with a small smile, and again Jesse fights the urge to groan at how adorable and kissable he is.

"...I love you," Hanzo says quietly, tenderly. "I think I have for a while, but... Emotions can be confusing, and I did not dare open myself to anyone."

"'Cuz o' the infinity thing?" Jesse carefully reaches for the archer, giving him time to turn away and worried that he'll do just that. Instead, Hanzo shifts closer and hesitantly places his hand in Jesse's.

A moment passes as Hanzo turns Jesse's hand over and traces ― not quite perfectly ― a sideways figure eight over his inner wrist, where his numbers are.

"Yes," Hanzo answers in a small voice. "I cannot die unless my body is scattered or destroyed. Do you understand that?"

"Well sure, I mean... I had 22 lives to go through 'fore now."

"No..." Hanzo shakes his head, slowly curling his fingers between Jesse's. "I am immortal. Everyone I love will die around me, eventually. Genji and Zenyatta have 98 lives between them, but they will run out. Maybe not for a thousand years, but they will. One day they will die for the last time."

"I won't," Jesse reminds softly, squeezing Hanzo's fingers between his own and drawing the archer's hand up to kiss the inside of his wrist.

Is it his imagination, or did Hanzo just gasp a little?

"We're soulmates, Han. I'm not goin' anywhere until you do. Nothin' can keep us apart, not even death."

"...You are so incredibly American," Hanzo chuffs, hiding a smile as he takes the last step into Jesse's space and lays one hand against his chest. "And a hopeless romantic."

His lips meet Jesse's in a kiss so brief and gentle it could easily have been a mistake, but it wasn't, and now Jesse's head is spinning and his heart is racing and every fiber of his being is screaming like a freshman high school girl whose crush just winked at her.

"Is it hopeless if I have you?" he breathes, wrapping his free arm around Hanzo's waist and pulling him closer in hopes of coaxing another kiss.

"Maybe not," Hanzo chuckles. "But most certainly a romantic. And your ass is hanging out of that robe."

"Well, can't have that, now can we?" Jesse smirks roguishly, winking. "That's  _ your _ property now."

Hanzo flushes scarlet and Jesse decides it's the prettiest colour he's ever seen; his new favourite colour.

"I am going to have words with you later," the archer promises. "But first, go get dressed."

And then he kisses Jesse properly and Jesse decides he can stand to let his ass hang out for a little while longer.


End file.
